J.J.CALE & ERIC CLAPTON
''THE ROAD TO ESCONDIDO''
NOVEMBER 7 2006
57:02
1. Danger/5:32
2. Heads In Georgia/4:09
3. Missing Person/4:26
4. When The War Is Over/3:48
5. Sporting Life Blues/3:31
6. Dead End Road/3:27
7. It's Easy/4:16
8. Hard To Thrill/5:10
Eric Clapton / John Mayer
9. Anyway The Wind Blows/3:54
10. Three Little Girls/2:44
Eric Clapton
11. Don't Cry Sister/3:08
12. Last Will And Testament/3:57
13. Who Am I Telling You?/4:06
14. Ride The River/4:36
Tracks By Cale, Except 8, 10
Doyle Bramhall II /Guitar
J.J. Cale /Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Dennis Caplinger /Fiddle
Eric Clapton /Guitar, Vocals
Simon Climie /Percussion
James Cruce /Drums, Percussion
Nathan East /Bass
Bruce Fowler /Horn
Gary Gilmore /Bass
Marty Grebb /Horn
Steve Jordan /Drums
Jim Karstein /Drums, Percussion
Abraham Laboriel, Sr. /Drums
Christine Lakeland /Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals (Background)
Albert Lee /Guitar
Steve Madaio /Horn
Taj Mahal /Harmonica
John Mayer /Guitar
Pino Palladino /Bass
Jerry Peterson /Horn
Billy Preston /Fender Rhodes, Organ (Hammond), Wurlitzer
Walt Richmond /Fender Rhodes, Piano, Wurlitzer
David Teegarden /Percussion
Derek Trucks /Guitar
Willie Weeks /Bass
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Two artists had an enormous impact on Eric Clapton's music in the '70s: Delaney & Bonnie and J.J. Cale. Clapton joined Delaney & Bonnie's backing band after Cream dissolved, an experience that helped him ease away from the bombast of the power trio and into the blend of soul, blues, pop, and rock that defined his solo sound. Delaney Bramlett helped steer Clapton's eponymous 1970 solo debut, which not only came very close to replicating the sound of Delaney & Bonnie's records from that time, but also had a rollicking version of J.J. Cale's "After Midnight" that was Clapton's first solo hit. Cale's influence surfaced again a few years later on Clapton's 1978 album Slowhand, which not only had J.J.'s sardonic "Cocaine" as its centerpiece but also drew heavily from Cale's laconic groove. Although Clapton progressively polished his sound over the course of the '80s, dabbling in pop along the way, he never quite strayed from the blueprint that he wrote based on his love of Cale's music, so his decision to team up with Cale for a full-fledged duet album called The Road to Escondido in 2006 felt natural, perhaps even overdue. After all, Clapton's work has borne the imprint of Cale's sound for over three decades now, so a duet record 36 years after Eric had a hit with "After Midnight" feels right. Initially, Clapton planned to cut a record with Cale functioning as a producer, but the project morphed into a duet album where Cale has a stronger presence than Clapton: the superstar might have brought in his longtime producer/collaborator Simon Climie, who has helmed every one of his records since 1998's Pilgrim, but Cale brought in members of his backing band and wound up writing 11 of the album's 14 tracks, effectively dominating The Road to Escondido. Even if Cale is the driving force behind the album, it's easy to listen to the album and think otherwise, since Climie gives this a precise, polished production that's entirely too slick for the rootsy music the duo plays, which in turn makes it sonically similar to all Clapton albums of the past ten years. Also, there are a lot of cameos from familiar pros (drummer Steve Jordan; bassist Pino Palladino; guitarists Albert Lee, Derek Trucks, and John Mayer; the late Billy Preston in some of his last sessions), giving this a crisp, professional vibe more in line with Clapton than Cale.
But the real reason that it would be easy to mistake The Road to Escondido as a solo Eric Clapton effort is that it's nearly impossible to distinguish him from J.J. Cale throughout the entire record. Sure, there aren't nearly as many synths as there were on Reptile or the stilted adult pop of Back Home, but the laid-back groove -- even when the music starts jumping, it never breaks a sweat -- sounds like a Clapton record through and through. More than that, The Road to Escondido reveals exactly how much Clapton learned from Cale's singing; their timbre and phrasing is nearly identical, to the point that it's frequently hard to discern who is singing when. Disconcerting this may be, but it's hardly bad, since it never feels like Clapton is copying Cale; instead, it shows their connection, that they're kindred spirits. And if Clapton popularized Cale's sound, he's paying him back with this record, which will bring him to a wider audience -- and Cale, in turn, has given Clapton his best record in a long time by focusing Clapton on this soulful, mellow groove and giving him a solid set of songs. While it is hard not to wish that there was a little less NPR slickness and a little more grit to the record -- this is roots music after all, so it should have some dirt to it -- this is still a very appealing record, capturing the duo working the same territory that's served them both well over the years but still finding something new there, largely because they're doing it together and clearly enjoying each other's company. It's relaxed and casual in the best possible sense: it doesn't sound lazy, it sounds lived-in, even with Climie's too-clean production, and that vibe -- coupled with Cale's sturdy songs -- makes this is an understated winner. This CD was nominated for a Grammy award in 2007 for Best Contemporary Blues Album.
BIOGRAPHY
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
With his laid-back rootsy style, J.J. Cale is best known for writing "After Midnight" and "Cocaine," songs that Eric Clapton later made into hits. But Cale's influence wasn't only through songwriting -- his distinctly loping sense of rhythm and shuffling boogie became the blueprint for the adult-oriented roots rock of Clapton and Mark Knopfler, among others. Cale's refusal to vary the sound of his music over the course of his career caused some critics to label him as a one-trick pony, but he managed to build a dedicated cult following with his sporadically released recordings.
Born in Oklahoma City but raised in Tulsa, OK, Cale played in a variety of rock & roll bands and Western swing groups as a teenager, including one outfit that also featured Leon Russell. In 1959, at the age of 21, he moved to Nashville, where he was hired by the Grand Ole Opry's touring company. After a few years, he returned to Tulsa, where he reunited with Russell and began playing local clubs. In 1964, Cale and Russell moved to Los Angeles with another local Oklahoma musician, Carl Radle.
Shortly after he arrived in Los Angeles, Cale began playing with Delaney & Bonnie. He only played with the duo for a brief time, beginning a solo career in 1965. That year, he cut the first version of "After Midnight," which would become his most famous song. Around 1966, Cale formed the Leathercoated Minds with songwriter Roger Tillison. The group released a psychedelic album called A Trip Down Sunset Strip the same year.
Deciding that he wouldn't be able to forge a career in Los Angeles, Cale returned to Tulsa in 1967. Upon his return, he set about playing local clubs. Within a year, he had recorded a set of demos. Radle obtained a copy of the demos and forwarded it to Denny Cordell, who was founding a record label called Shelter with Leon Russell. Shelter signed Cale in 1969. The following year, Eric Clapton recorded "After Midnight," taking it to the American Top 20 and thereby providing Cale with needed exposure and royalties. In December 1971, Cale released his debut album, Naturally, on Shelter Records; the album featured the Top 40 hit "Crazy Mama," as well as a re-recorded version of "After Midnight," which nearly reached the Top 40, and "Call Me the Breeze," which Lynyrd Skynyrd later covered. Cale followed Naturally with Really, which featured the minor hit "Lies," later that same year.
Following the release of Really, J.J. Cale adopted a slow work schedule, releasing an album every other year or so. Okie, his third album, appeared in 1974. Two years later, he released Troubadour, which yielded "Hey Baby," his last minor hit, as well as the original version of "Cocaine," a song that Clapton would later cover. By this point, Cale had settled into a comfortable career as a cult artist and he rarely made any attempt to break into the mainstream. One more album on Shelter Records, 5, appeared in 1979 and then he switched labels, signing with MCA in 1981. MCA only released one album (1981's Shades) and Cale moved to Mercury Records the following year, releasing Grasshopper.
In 1983, Cale released his eighth album, 8. The album became his first not to chart. Following its release, Cale left Mercury and entered a long period of seclusion, reappearing in late 1990 with Travel Log, which was released on the British independent label Silvertone; the album appeared in America the following year. 10 was released in 1992. The album failed to chart, but it re-established his power as a cult artist. He moved to the major label Virgin in 1994, releasing Close to You the same year. It was followed by Guitar Man in 1996. Cale returned to recording in 2003, releasing To Tulsa and Back in 2004 on the Sanctuary label and The Road to Escondido, a collaborative effort with Clapton, in 2006 on Reprise. Roll On appeared in 2009 on Rounder Records. A CD/DVD set drawn from sessions Cale recorded with Leon Russell on keyboards in 1979, In Session at Paradise Studio, appeared early in 2013.
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''THE ROAD TO ESCONDIDO''
NOVEMBER 7 2006
57:02
1. Danger/5:32
2. Heads In Georgia/4:09
3. Missing Person/4:26
4. When The War Is Over/3:48
5. Sporting Life Blues/3:31
6. Dead End Road/3:27
7. It's Easy/4:16
8. Hard To Thrill/5:10
Eric Clapton / John Mayer
9. Anyway The Wind Blows/3:54
10. Three Little Girls/2:44
Eric Clapton
11. Don't Cry Sister/3:08
12. Last Will And Testament/3:57
13. Who Am I Telling You?/4:06
14. Ride The River/4:36
Tracks By Cale, Except 8, 10
Doyle Bramhall II /Guitar
J.J. Cale /Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Dennis Caplinger /Fiddle
Eric Clapton /Guitar, Vocals
Simon Climie /Percussion
James Cruce /Drums, Percussion
Nathan East /Bass
Bruce Fowler /Horn
Gary Gilmore /Bass
Marty Grebb /Horn
Steve Jordan /Drums
Jim Karstein /Drums, Percussion
Abraham Laboriel, Sr. /Drums
Christine Lakeland /Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals (Background)
Albert Lee /Guitar
Steve Madaio /Horn
Taj Mahal /Harmonica
John Mayer /Guitar
Pino Palladino /Bass
Jerry Peterson /Horn
Billy Preston /Fender Rhodes, Organ (Hammond), Wurlitzer
Walt Richmond /Fender Rhodes, Piano, Wurlitzer
David Teegarden /Percussion
Derek Trucks /Guitar
Willie Weeks /Bass
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Two artists had an enormous impact on Eric Clapton's music in the '70s: Delaney & Bonnie and J.J. Cale. Clapton joined Delaney & Bonnie's backing band after Cream dissolved, an experience that helped him ease away from the bombast of the power trio and into the blend of soul, blues, pop, and rock that defined his solo sound. Delaney Bramlett helped steer Clapton's eponymous 1970 solo debut, which not only came very close to replicating the sound of Delaney & Bonnie's records from that time, but also had a rollicking version of J.J. Cale's "After Midnight" that was Clapton's first solo hit. Cale's influence surfaced again a few years later on Clapton's 1978 album Slowhand, which not only had J.J.'s sardonic "Cocaine" as its centerpiece but also drew heavily from Cale's laconic groove. Although Clapton progressively polished his sound over the course of the '80s, dabbling in pop along the way, he never quite strayed from the blueprint that he wrote based on his love of Cale's music, so his decision to team up with Cale for a full-fledged duet album called The Road to Escondido in 2006 felt natural, perhaps even overdue. After all, Clapton's work has borne the imprint of Cale's sound for over three decades now, so a duet record 36 years after Eric had a hit with "After Midnight" feels right. Initially, Clapton planned to cut a record with Cale functioning as a producer, but the project morphed into a duet album where Cale has a stronger presence than Clapton: the superstar might have brought in his longtime producer/collaborator Simon Climie, who has helmed every one of his records since 1998's Pilgrim, but Cale brought in members of his backing band and wound up writing 11 of the album's 14 tracks, effectively dominating The Road to Escondido. Even if Cale is the driving force behind the album, it's easy to listen to the album and think otherwise, since Climie gives this a precise, polished production that's entirely too slick for the rootsy music the duo plays, which in turn makes it sonically similar to all Clapton albums of the past ten years. Also, there are a lot of cameos from familiar pros (drummer Steve Jordan; bassist Pino Palladino; guitarists Albert Lee, Derek Trucks, and John Mayer; the late Billy Preston in some of his last sessions), giving this a crisp, professional vibe more in line with Clapton than Cale.
But the real reason that it would be easy to mistake The Road to Escondido as a solo Eric Clapton effort is that it's nearly impossible to distinguish him from J.J. Cale throughout the entire record. Sure, there aren't nearly as many synths as there were on Reptile or the stilted adult pop of Back Home, but the laid-back groove -- even when the music starts jumping, it never breaks a sweat -- sounds like a Clapton record through and through. More than that, The Road to Escondido reveals exactly how much Clapton learned from Cale's singing; their timbre and phrasing is nearly identical, to the point that it's frequently hard to discern who is singing when. Disconcerting this may be, but it's hardly bad, since it never feels like Clapton is copying Cale; instead, it shows their connection, that they're kindred spirits. And if Clapton popularized Cale's sound, he's paying him back with this record, which will bring him to a wider audience -- and Cale, in turn, has given Clapton his best record in a long time by focusing Clapton on this soulful, mellow groove and giving him a solid set of songs. While it is hard not to wish that there was a little less NPR slickness and a little more grit to the record -- this is roots music after all, so it should have some dirt to it -- this is still a very appealing record, capturing the duo working the same territory that's served them both well over the years but still finding something new there, largely because they're doing it together and clearly enjoying each other's company. It's relaxed and casual in the best possible sense: it doesn't sound lazy, it sounds lived-in, even with Climie's too-clean production, and that vibe -- coupled with Cale's sturdy songs -- makes this is an understated winner. This CD was nominated for a Grammy award in 2007 for Best Contemporary Blues Album.
BIOGRAPHY
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
With his laid-back rootsy style, J.J. Cale is best known for writing "After Midnight" and "Cocaine," songs that Eric Clapton later made into hits. But Cale's influence wasn't only through songwriting -- his distinctly loping sense of rhythm and shuffling boogie became the blueprint for the adult-oriented roots rock of Clapton and Mark Knopfler, among others. Cale's refusal to vary the sound of his music over the course of his career caused some critics to label him as a one-trick pony, but he managed to build a dedicated cult following with his sporadically released recordings.
Born in Oklahoma City but raised in Tulsa, OK, Cale played in a variety of rock & roll bands and Western swing groups as a teenager, including one outfit that also featured Leon Russell. In 1959, at the age of 21, he moved to Nashville, where he was hired by the Grand Ole Opry's touring company. After a few years, he returned to Tulsa, where he reunited with Russell and began playing local clubs. In 1964, Cale and Russell moved to Los Angeles with another local Oklahoma musician, Carl Radle.
Shortly after he arrived in Los Angeles, Cale began playing with Delaney & Bonnie. He only played with the duo for a brief time, beginning a solo career in 1965. That year, he cut the first version of "After Midnight," which would become his most famous song. Around 1966, Cale formed the Leathercoated Minds with songwriter Roger Tillison. The group released a psychedelic album called A Trip Down Sunset Strip the same year.
Deciding that he wouldn't be able to forge a career in Los Angeles, Cale returned to Tulsa in 1967. Upon his return, he set about playing local clubs. Within a year, he had recorded a set of demos. Radle obtained a copy of the demos and forwarded it to Denny Cordell, who was founding a record label called Shelter with Leon Russell. Shelter signed Cale in 1969. The following year, Eric Clapton recorded "After Midnight," taking it to the American Top 20 and thereby providing Cale with needed exposure and royalties. In December 1971, Cale released his debut album, Naturally, on Shelter Records; the album featured the Top 40 hit "Crazy Mama," as well as a re-recorded version of "After Midnight," which nearly reached the Top 40, and "Call Me the Breeze," which Lynyrd Skynyrd later covered. Cale followed Naturally with Really, which featured the minor hit "Lies," later that same year.
Following the release of Really, J.J. Cale adopted a slow work schedule, releasing an album every other year or so. Okie, his third album, appeared in 1974. Two years later, he released Troubadour, which yielded "Hey Baby," his last minor hit, as well as the original version of "Cocaine," a song that Clapton would later cover. By this point, Cale had settled into a comfortable career as a cult artist and he rarely made any attempt to break into the mainstream. One more album on Shelter Records, 5, appeared in 1979 and then he switched labels, signing with MCA in 1981. MCA only released one album (1981's Shades) and Cale moved to Mercury Records the following year, releasing Grasshopper.
In 1983, Cale released his eighth album, 8. The album became his first not to chart. Following its release, Cale left Mercury and entered a long period of seclusion, reappearing in late 1990 with Travel Log, which was released on the British independent label Silvertone; the album appeared in America the following year. 10 was released in 1992. The album failed to chart, but it re-established his power as a cult artist. He moved to the major label Virgin in 1994, releasing Close to You the same year. It was followed by Guitar Man in 1996. Cale returned to recording in 2003, releasing To Tulsa and Back in 2004 on the Sanctuary label and The Road to Escondido, a collaborative effort with Clapton, in 2006 on Reprise. Roll On appeared in 2009 on Rounder Records. A CD/DVD set drawn from sessions Cale recorded with Leon Russell on keyboards in 1979, In Session at Paradise Studio, appeared early in 2013.
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